A New Balance
by AlexandriaLiddell
Summary: Avatar Korra's daughter is pulled into a civil war after the affects of the new spirit portal threaten the hard fought balance.
1. Chapter 1

The music pulsed through the club. The tune was soft, and the singer was only barely audible above the den of activity going on all around me.

I was trying to listen as best I could but Azimi was doing her best job at distracting me. She had been going on and on about some earthbending police officer she'd been hounding the last few weeks. Apparently all of her advances had been rejected and she found this incredibly rude.

"I mean how hard does a girl have to work? What else can I do besides literally go up to him and ask him out?" she asks downing another drink. We were both underage but she knew the guy and that had its advantages.

"Maybe that's exactly what you should do?" I say trying to gauge if she's tipsy yet.

"Please. That never goes over well. You put em on the spot and they get all nervous and jittery." She whines. I let it go. Of all the things I knew about, courting police officers was not one of them. Especially since I was pretty sure the target of her affection was already married.

The song came to a conclusion and the club erupted in applause and hoot calls. Azimi just took another shot and slammed the glass down in finality.

"I think I'm done for the evening." She hiccups. "Put it on my tab you devil you." She drunkenly demands of the bartender who just chuckles too himself. We both stand up and luckily I'm fast enough to catch her when she goes stumbling.

"How many of those did you have?" I ask heaving her up. She was surprisingly heavy.

"Whosh counting?" she slurs. The bartender bids us goodnight and I try to wobble her out the doors. She collides with the doorframe but seems unphased.

"Sorry." I whisper trying to stifle a laugh. This was the drunkest I'd ever seen her, though to be honest I was usually the one holding her back.

We arrive on the sidewalk as dozens of satomobiles whizz by. Somebody honks at somebody else and in the distance I can hear the faint sound of a siren. Ah the ambiance of republic city. We were both city girls so we loved it. It was weirder and more noticeable whenever there was silence.

"It's so cold." Azimi whines buttoning up her jacket. She's about to snap her fingers when I stop her.

"No fire right now. Remember last time?" I ask. Last time she was less drunk and she still managed to set her bangs on fire. Booze and firebenders didn't mix.

I steady her putting an arm around my shoulder and we continue down the sidewalk. Her apartment was only three blocks away so it wasn't too much trouble, especially since the cold didn't really bother me.

We were about halfway there when I hear coughing coming from one of the back alleys. I looked and saw a man huddled in the shadows. It was hard to tell but it looked like he was doubled over and those coughs didn't sound too good.

I unwrap Azimi's arm from around my back and prop her up against the wall. "Stay. Good girl." I say. She gives a drunken salute motion and slumps down a little. Jeez, apparently I hadn't been a good alcohol police when I was with her tonight.

I turn back to the man and call out. "Sir? Are you okay?" he coughs and sounds like he's trying to get something out. I walk closer as his coughing grows louder. It really sounded like he needed a doctor. "Here, let me get you up and we can get you to a healer."

I kneel down beside him and offer a hand. When the brick flies towards my eye, I'm completely surprised. It hits and it hits hard. My head is whipped back as I collapse to the pavement in a daze.

I can't make much of what happens next. There's shouting and somebody tugs at my bag. Then there's more shouting as the cold vanishes and a searing heat and red glow fan out through the area. I clutch at my eye and try to look at the scene but it's watering from the pain.

I hear footsteps and insults fading off into the distance when something tugs me up. After a few seconds, I can open my eye enough to see Azimi kneeling down with me.

"You okay?" she's slurring but not as much. I nod and she pulls my hands away from what was sure to be swollen eye.

"Is it bad?" I ask. Azami eyes me for a second and puts a finger to her mouth in thought.

"That is definitely going to be a black eye." She says. The fight must have really sobered her up. I dab at my eyelid but it hurts to touch.

Azimi holds up my bag with a smile. "On the bright side I got this back." She hands it to me and I pull out a tissue to dab at the wound. It wasn't bleeding so that was good. "See what you get for helping hobos?"

"Hobos?" I ask curious about the plural. "How many were there?"

"Three. Two earthbenders and a firebender." She says standing up. "I think they were just thugs looking for an easy score. Bunch of idiots. They bolted the second they realized who you were."

Who I was? Suddenly I'm panicking as I look in the direction the thugs ran off. "Oh no… mom will freak out." I cry.

"Just tell her you tripped on some ice?" Azami tries to suggest assuringly. I shake my head in protest.

The idea of mom falling for that was laughable. Oh she hated when I got into tussles. She already worried enough about me as it was, and to be honest while I was worried about me, I was a little more worried for the thugs. Roughing up the Avatar's daughter was not a smart thing to do.


	2. Chapter 2

Azimi hired a cab for me despite my protests. She was probably half being nice and half leaving me to deal with the coming storm on my own. Both moms hated when I went to the more dangerous parts of the city and this would give them ammo for years.

I thank the driver and walk meekly up the steps to the doors of the mansion. I hesitate before I open them. Maybe if I'm lucky I can avoid them for a few days and it'll go away and nobody will ever know.

I open it and peak in. The entrance hall is empty and I don't hear anyone walking around the halls. Cool. I close the door quietly behind me and tip toe up the stairs and I reach the peak when a voice from behind makes me jump.

"Hey sweetie. Where you off to in a hurry?" asks my mother. I let out a sigh of relief. If I had to be confronted by one of them, I'm glad it was Asami first. She wouldn't fly off and bash some heads so readily.

Still I don't turn around just yet. "Oh you know, just a night on the town. Is mom around?" I ask sheepishly.

"No, she had to meet President Ju Yin for something. She won't be back till 7." I breathe another sigh of relief. Maybe the swelling would go down in an hour I think hopelessly.

"Alright, um…" how do I do this? I guess I just turn around and when I do I get the response I except. Her eyes go wide and her mouth falls agape.

"Kinara what happened?" she asks rushing up to me to assess the damage.

"Slipped on some ice?" I say with a nervous laugh. She looks at me with eyebrows raised.

"Ice huh?" she puts her hands on her hips and begins tapping her foot waiting for the real answer.

"Azimi and I got attacked by a few thugs." I concede. "They didn't hurt us… well besides the…" I gesture at my eye. "It's fine though now I promise."

Mom looks at me and sighs. "You weren't hanging out at the Silver Eclipse again were you?"

I twiddle my hands behind my back and avert my gaze. "Only a little.

This receives another sigh. "Well let's get you cleaned up and we should check if anything's worse than it looks." She ushers me down to the first floor wash room and sits me in front of a mirror.

She surveys the damage and begins dabbing at it with a towel causing me to whine with a tiny ow every time she presses.

"This looks bigger than a fist." She remarks.

"It was an earthbender. He ran the old 'I've fallen and I can't get up' routine." I explain.

Mom shakes her head. "Kinara, how many times have we told you to stay clear of that neighborhood? It's not safe, especially for you."

I look away from her and clench my fist. Mom instantly knows what I'm thinking. "Sweetie that's not what I meant."

"That's what it sounded like." I snap. "He got the drop on me. I didn't have a chance to defend myself!" I yell defensively. Mom had trained me ever since I was girl in the same way she was. Self defense classes every Saturday.

"Sometimes fists just aren't enough." She's trying to console me but it's not working. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you." I look back at her and unclench my fists.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell." She takes the apology and rubs some plant smelling cream on the bruise.

"That should stop the swelling." She says eyeing the rest of me. "You're sure you're not hurt anywhere else?"

"No, Azimi fought them off pretty fast." I say trying not to sound bitter. I wasn't angry at her or Azimi. I was still dreading what mom will do. How she'll look at me like I'm so fragile. "I'm gonna go change before dinner." I say. Part of my dress got torn when I hit the ground earlier.

"Alright, I'll let you know when Korra gets home." She says caringly. This was another reason I wanted to talk to her first. She has never once coddled me. She was overprotective sure but she never treated me like I was going to break. It was probably because she and I were one in the same in that way.

"Thanks." I say slipping out of the washroom and jogging up to my own room. I slip out of my dirty torn dress and put on another. I sit at my frankly huge mirror and begin toiling away at my hair which had gotten messed up by the tussle when there's a knock at my door.

"Come in." I say. The door opens and Natsumi walks in.

"Tell me what they look like and I'll go beat em up if you want."She says jokingly.

"What if I said they took one look at me and ran away?" I say with a smirk. She sits down on my bed and observes me as I finish up.

"I'd say they were smart. I've seen you take out four gangsters at once before." She says messing with my music box that had been on my bedside table.

"Well these guys were tougher." I say finishing up and turning in my chair to face her.

"I'm sure. Well, I just wanted say goodbye before I left." She says standing up and walking up to me to give me a hug.

I return it but I have no idea what she's talking about. "Where are you going?"

"I'm taking an airship to the southern water tribe. Grandpa asked mom to help with something but she was busy so lucky me." She says twiddling at my hair.

"What'd he need?" I ask.

Natsumi shrugs. "Didn't say. Probably won't take long though." That struck me as odd, but I didn't press it.

"Well tell granddad hi for me." I say

"Oh I will. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." She laughs.

"I'll try not to. Really hard this time I swear." I say. She just replies with a mh-mm. She's leaving when I see her finger twitch. I turn just in time to dodge the glass of water she just tipped over where I had just been sitting.

"Love ya sis!" she yells before closing the door behind her before I can retort. I give a little harrumph. I had gotten really good at dodging her pranks. A whole childhood of every water based prank you could think of. I still had a scar over my left eye when she had thrown a snowball filled with ice a little harder than she had meant to. Oh she got chewed out for that. I'd never seen mom so angry.

I picked the glass up and set it back in its place and got a towel to wipe up the contents. When I see the dark stain the water made in the wood actually spelled something out.

Lookout

What did that? The water leapt up and I almost broke my back leaning away to dodge it. It arched past where my face had been and down back onto the floor.

"Missed me!" I called. Just outside the door came what sounded like a groan of defeat. This week's chart. Kinara two, Natsumi zero.


	3. Chapter 3

It's about an hour later when mom knocks on the door and tells me that Korra will be home in a few minutes. "Don't be so nervous." She says. "You always work yourself up over stuff like this." I nod but internally I'm wondering how I could not? Stuff like this had happened before and it had yet to go over well.

Mom leaves me for some final prep time. I was considering going back to the ice story and hope Asami covers for me but thought better of it.

Just be natural and don't mention names and everything will be fine I try to tell myself. I take a deep breath and get up and began the walk to my doom.

The hallway leading up from my room was situated in such a way that I had some cover behind the walls before it opened up into the entrance hall. I hug that wall closely and peak around the corner just in time to see Korra and Asami embrace each other in a mild hug and a less mild kiss.

"Long day?" asks Asami. Korra shrugs and rolls her eyes. She's dressed more casually than I would ever dare for a meeting with the president. But that made a certain amount of sense as the avatar. You didn't want to be wearing a dress or something cumbersome when you could need to respond to danger whenever or wherever it called.

"To be honest I think she called me in for a paperwork problem. Apparently some bending criminals are popping up in prison and they're not registered as such."

"Well that's not so weird. Benders don't have to register." Asami replies.

"That's what I told them but did she listen?" Korra asks raising her hands in frustration. "No one has spontaneously gained bending in over ten years and that was only airbenders."

"She probably just would rather be safe than sorry." Asami assures.

"I guess I can't complain. Has Natsumi left yet?"

"About an hour ago. She said she'll radio from the ship tonight." In the midst of the conversation, I decide to stop eavesdropping and I start to descend the stairs, keeping my head low and tilted to the side in one last feeble attempt to prolong this as much as possible.

"Hi mom." My voice shakes out. She turns to me with a smile that instantly turns to a look of worry when she sees the bruise. She closes the distance between us in a second.

"Sweetie what happened?" her tone is half demanding and half concerned parent.

"Azimi and I got tricked by a bunch of thugs and… well… yeah." I hate myself for sounding so sheepish and already shameful.

Korra looks at me with a scowl. "And this couldn't possibly have happened in old town could it?" when I don't say anything she takes it as a yes. "Kinara! How many times have we told you to stay away from there? You know gangs run the streets and look for easy marks just like you?"

"I…" I try to say but she cuts me off.

"You aren't safe there! You've heard about the disappearances! What if they had hurt you worse? What if they just decided to kill you for the trouble?" she's yelling now and I can't even look her in the eye.

"Natsumi hangs out there all the time." I stutter.

"Natsumi is a bender! She can take care of herself." She shouts. Asami shoots her a look that tells her to back off, but seeing that only fuels her on. "Do you understand how easy it is for them? Asami's mother was killed by a bender and that was a lot harder for him that it would be for the one that hurts you."

"I'm not defenseless." I try to say but this only brings out a bitter laugh from mom.

"Oh yeah I can tell. This is only what the fourth time this year you've come home bloody or burned? How many times will it take?"

"How many times did it take you?" Asami asks calmly. Korra looks at her, then at me in shock.

"You're defending her? If I remember right, you've stood right there with me when we tell her to be careful and she doesn't listen!" Korra bites back. She closes her eyes and starts to rub her temple. "I'm not calling you defenseless. But I am asking you to be aware of how dangerous it is for you to mess with these people."

"I don't mean too. It just sort of happens." I say defensively at which Korra scoffs.

"It always does." She muses. A few seconds pass in which we could hear a pin drop in the silence before she finishes; "I guess no matter how many times I say it, it won't get through." She shakes her head and begins to walk towards the small office on the right side of the hall.

Asami looks at me with a look that asks me not to worry before following after her, and I'm left alone. It had been worse than I thought. Usually mom just gave me a stern talking to and treated me like a slight breeze could break me. This was the first time she was genuinely, scarily angry at me.

I feel a little numb as I return back up the stairs and wander the halls until I find myself curled up on the window sill in the study. This was one of my comfort places. This window had the best view of the city and the spirit portal shooting golden straight up into the sky.

Apparently it had been fourteen years since that appeared there, and I had lived here for twelve and never once did the sight of it not cheer me up at least a little.

I thought about Korra's words. They were nothing either of them hadn't said to me before, but this time it just felt different. It stung more that was for sure. As long as I could remember, Korra acted differently to me than to anyone else. Even Asami and she was every bit the nonbender I was. I don't think she meant to treat me with kid gloves, but she did, and it makes me feel every bit as weak now as it did back then.

It was almost worse with people. Korra had done so many great things, so when they meet me and see how normal I am, they can't help but be disappointed.

But there looks still didn't hurt as much as my own reflections gaze did. Daughter of the avatar, and she get's beaten up by a couple no good punks? How shameful can I be?

I continue to gaze out at the portal and I wonder what they're talking about down there. Asami was pretty good at calming my mother down but tonight seemed different. I lose track of time, but judging by the star rotations, it's probably an hour when I hear the door to the study open.

"I don't quite feel like apologizing yet." I snap to who I'm sure is Asami when Korra's voice replies.

"Well I might." I turn my head just as she sits down on the window sill beside me. She reaches a hand up to gently push my bangs away from the bruise and then begins to draw water out of the canteen at her waist. It begins to glow, making the hundreds of little glints of light from the city all the more beautiful.

She begins to work the healing water around my eye. She had done it before so I was used to the cooling and numbing of my afflicted skin.

The feeling remains when she finishes up. I check out my reflection in the window and see the skin is as clear as if nothing had ever happened.

"There. That's better." She says inspecting her work.

"Thanks." Dang it. I still sound timid. Korra looks out the window at the portal for a second as if pondering something.

"Asami has a theory." She says matter of factly. "You remind me a lot of myself at your age. I did some pretty stupid things too. Incredibly stupid things as a matter of fact and I made it a point not to listen to the grownups. She says that's why I hate to see you making the same mistakes."

I don't say anything. I had been told about several of those things she's referring to and to be honest I had never thought they were that stupid. I looked up to her and that was probably why I got into those situations myself. I was trying to live up to her. I always have.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you. I know if I was in your shoes, I'd probably do the same thing. I'd probably have caused a lot more damage doing it too."

I can't help but let out a small giggle at this. If it was her she probably would have burned a few places down too. She turns away from the window and puts a hand on my own.

"I, just get really scared when I think of you getting into the messes I did when I was a kid. I'm your mom so I think it's pretty fair that I get to worry."

"My sister is one of the best waterbender's in the world. My Best friend is an overprotective firebender. One of my mom's is the CEO of Sato industries and can command airships and mecha's at will and the other is the avatar. I don't know how I could be any safer."

This prompts a laugh from her. "When I was being trained as the avatar, I was isolated for more than a decade in the name of safety and I couldn't stand doing the same to you. But at the same time, please, please don't feel like you need to prove anything to me or anyone else."

"But you're the avatar. And I'm… not. I'm the daughter of the avatar and I can't even bend."

Korra smiles. "So what? You're strong in a better way. Asami told me about the trick the gangsters played. Pretending to be hurt so you would try to help. You compulsively try to help people in any way you can. If compassion isn't strength then I don't know what is. I don't want you to ever think that I'm not proud of you."

My throat start to feel a little tingly and I blush because I know my eyes are tearing up. I didn't expect this, and it felt so good to hear all this. I lunge forward and hug her for all I'm worth.

"I promise. I'll start doing better." I cry. She returns the hug and I think she's tearing up too.

"And I promise that I'll try to be better too."


	4. Chapter 4

"Remember, never stop moving." Says Kiro, he has been my sparring trainer for the last six years of my life. I roll my eyes and begin rocking back and forth shifting my weight from foot to foot. He never was at a loss for that particular nugget of wisdom.

It had been two weeks since my understanding with my mother and I had meant it when I said I would be more careful, but at the same time, I didn't want to be floored again if things went wrong. Plus other mom had insisted that I keep up with my lessons.

Asami had insisted on self defense lessons for awhile now. Apparently this was the younger brother of the man that trained her. I had grown up hearing stories of the times Asami and Korra got into crazy situations together and she had held her own with the benders. Naturally, she wanted me to follow in her footsteps.

Kiro begins to circle me, fists raised. I circle back making sure we stay face to face. I see his right arm flex in preparation of an attack and I immediately counter with a cross arm block before slamming both of my palms hard into his chest.

This is enough to knock him off balance and I take the opening. I dash forward grabbing his arm before twisting myself and by extension him around and extending a foot that collides with his shin, sweeping him off his feet.

I slam him down hard. The sound of it echoes throughout the training hall. I press his head down into the soft mats while at the same time bending his arm into an uncomfortable position.

He murmurs something but with his face pressed into the floor I can't hear it. He taps out slamming his hand onto the mat and I let him go. "How's that for nonstop movement?" I ask cheekily.

He rolls himself around and I help him into a sitting position. "You're five foot nothing and you laid me out flat. I'd say that's pretty good." He says rather happily. This wasn't the first time I had laid him out. I first started winning the sessions last year, and I had only improved since then. It was my theory that fighting was a lot like waterbending. Which I had never done of course but I had watched enough of. It was all about fluidity of movement.

It was a good feeling to win so quickly but kind of hollow. He wasn't a bender, and there wasn't much he could do to train me to defend against that short of shooting flamethrowers at me.

But we had tried and mom told me that the key was to be a cannon. Close the distance fast and either hit hard, or incapacitate them. If I could immobilize their arms, I had won. Plus my 15th birthday present had been a chi blocking wrist gauntlet. That could solve the problem too.

"I think that's enough for today. I need time to heal." Kiro laughs. I walk over to a nearby towel rack with a spring in my step and start drying off. Pinning a man was exhausting. Especially an earth nation citizen. The man was stocky and probably twice my size if not more.

"Think I could take a bender?" I ask chugging back some water.

"Well I don't suggest you go looking for some but I wouldn't bet against you." He says. That was something else I had wanted to retort to mom last week. In my defense that earthbender had fought dirty. If he hadn't, who knew? Okay that was cocky he would probably have squashed me between the alley walls. But hey a girl could dream.

I'm about to go wash up when Xun walks into the sparring area and asks for me. He was the family butler of sorts. Being the daughter of the biggest manufacturer in world had its advantages, and I swore sometimes Azimi was just friends with me so she could be doted on whenever she came over.

"Miss Natsumi on the radio for you." He sounded just as expressionless as ever, but I on the other hand jumped in excitement. It had been a week since I talked to her and I wanted to know what was going on.

I thanked him about two seconds before I had cleared my way through the door and was running up to the radio in the office.

When I got there, I slid into the chair with such momentum it almost tipped over. I hit the talk button and picked up the microphone. "Hello?"

"Hey sis! What's up?" her voice crackles through the speaker.

"I just got done thrashing Kiro." I say proudly.

"I should hope so. Isn't he like 50?" she mocks.

I make a pouting face which is useless since she can't see me. "43 thank you very much. And he's very buff."

"Ha, I'm just messing. Mom's there?"

"No. Korra's meeting Jinora on air Temple Island and Asami's at work."

"Dang. Okay well could you ask them to radio as soon as possible?"

I admit I was a little offended. "Why can't you just tell me then I'll tell them?"

There's a decent length pause. "Grandpa wants to keep it under wraps until we can be sure. To be honest with you I don't even really know what's going on other than crime rates have gone up here the last few months. Other than that I can't say."

I consider demanding an answer but think better of it. I was a bit of a blabber mouth so I didn't want to get grandpa into trouble. "Alright, but I expect the full story when you get back."

"I make no such promise!" she laughs. "Thanks. Listen I got to go. Somebody's calling for me. See you in a week sis. And give Kala a kiss for me!" and the radio buzzed and she was gone. Kala was Natsumi's pet polar bear dog. She was the fourth pup of Naga, my mom's old dog. I always got the impression she didn't like me. She growled whenever I tried to pet her so kissing probably wouldn't go over well.

I hang up the radio receiver and am about to get up when it buzzes with static again, and I'm shocked to hear Azimi's voice crackling out. "llo? Anyone there? Does this thing even work? Testing, testing one, two, pick up the radio!"

I do as I'm commanded. "Azimi?"

"There you are! Do you know how long I've been trying to call you on this thing?" she asks.

"How… exactly are you doing this?" I ask. "You didn't steal a police car did you?"

"What? Nah." She brushes off. "I did kind of commandeer a police officer though."

"You what?"

"Remember that hunky earthbending police officer?" she asks.

Another voice I don't know chimes in. "Hunky? Nice. I like that"

"Well you were right." Returns Azimi. "Talking worked!" She sounds very merry. "And we're on our way to pick you up right now so get yourself decent."

"Wait so you're still in a police car?" I ask.

"Yup."

"I think what you're doing may be illegal." I laugh.

"No it's okay." Says the mysterious officer. "It's my day off." I was still fairly certain this was illegal but whatever.

"So where are we going?"

"Beats me. But with a car I'm sure we can find some sort of trouble. I mean fun. Yes definitely that's what I meant." I can almost hear her winking at me.

"Whoa. No, no thank you. I promised my mom I would hold back on the trouble making."

"Kinara we have a cop this time? I'm sure your mom would be okay with that."

I sigh. I hated to admit it but that made sense. And Azimi making sense was enough to raise warning flags. "I'll be ready." I say.

"Cool." Replies Azimi before the static signifies the end of the discussion. A cop, huh? Yeah we'd be totally fine

I'm sitting out on the steps newly dressed when the police car rolls up. It's one of the new and improved models. It looks shiny and factory fresh. I knew Azimi pretty well and I bet twenty Yuan's that it would not be so shiny by the end of the day.

The car comes to a stop and Azimi jumps out followed by the mystery man and boy… hunky was a good word for him. He was big, and so… chiseled looking. For an officer, it was kind of surprising to see the devil may care smirk and twinkle in his eyes. If he was already driving her around after two weeks they must have hit it off great, and anyone who could hit it off with Azimi was probably our kind of whacky.

"Kinara, meat Tong. Tong meet the daughter of the avatar, Kinara." Azimi says with a flourish. He extends his hand.

"Pleasure or honor to meet you. Azimi's told me all about you."

I take the hand and am worried his firm grip might crush it. It's nice though. Oh no, I hope I'm not blushing. "Pleasure, my names Kinara… er wait she already said that. Sorry."

"She get's tongue tied around men. And dogs. You're not a dog man are you?" she asks giving him a bump with her hip.

"No, but I do chase cars a lot so make of that what you will." He bumps her back. Oh no. Two weeks and they already had a report. This was serious.

"Well now that introduction's are over, let's get this show on the road!" Azimi whoops hopping back into the car. Tong opens the backseat door for me.

"Thanks." I say automatically but he holds up his hand.

"Oh sorry I was taking that seat." I look at him then at Azimi.

"Yeah, I told him about your mad driving skills and he wanted a demonstration." She says matter of factly.

"Uh-uh. Putting my foot down. Isn't that illegal for a civilian to drive a cop car?" I ask.

"Two things." Azimi says holding up two fingers. "We'll say he hurt his hand and was just being responsible if anything goes wrong. Two, I've yet to see you wreck so we'll be fine." She finishes kicking her feet up on the dashboard.

I look at tong whose smiling brightly at me. "You know if we get caught it could be your badge right?" I ask him. He nods and reaches his hand out. Some dust from the road floats up and encrusts itself over the police logo on the side of the door.

"That'll work." I say impressed. He gets in, and I circle the car to the driver's seat. I get in, tossing my bag onto Azimi who lets out an oomph.

"What's in this? Bricks?" she asks. She peaks in and sees the chi blocking glove. "I love a girl whose packing."

"I'm not packing. That's a last resort. If something goes down then you two do the fighting." I snap. "I'll just watch and cheer from the sidelines."

"Fair enough." Says Tong. "So do you know how this model works?" Oh Azimi, what had you dragged this poor man into?

I reach into my bag on Azimi's lap and withdraw a pair of goggles and put them on. "More or less." I say with a grin to Azimi. "I watched my mom design it." And with that I kick on the ignition, and listen to that engine growl. Oh that sound was my life. "Hang on."

"To what?" he asks wide eyed before letting out a yelp as we lurch into motion and hit 40mph before he can even buckle up.


	5. Chapter 5

V

"-Knocked him straight to the ground, oh you should have seen it." Laughs Azimi. "He was so furious."

"In my defense, you cheat." Remarks Tong. I had asked how they met and it had gone incredibly similar to what I had thought of in my head. He had arrested her (for what, neither of them said) and somewhere between the point of pickup and the police station, love happened.

"It's not cheating if it works." She snaps back.

"Best 2 out of 3." He suggests.

"Yeah." I interject. "You guys could have a one on one probending match. I'll ref." I say with a stereotypical announcer voice.

Azimi leans in close to me. "In that case I would like to set up a prior bribe." She whispers loud enough for Tong to hear. "How about a brand spanking new mecha tank?"

I laugh. "If you had one sure…" and then I think about it for a second and turn to give her a look. "You don't do you?"

Tong leans up and we both stare Azimi down. "I may have an arm of one. Completely legally obtained of course."

I shoot a raised eyebrow back to Tong in the rear view mirror and he returns it in kind. "She's not joking is she?" he asks.

I give him a sympathetic shake of my head. I liked him so far. He was shockingly willing to go along with shenanigans and mischief. Usually I just pictured most officers to be stuffy and humorless. Though I was a little worried that if Azimi talked him into it they could be a formidable crime duo.

We were hitting near 60 KPH on the newly built highway that circled the bay around republic city. Construction on the city had been nonstop for as long as I could remember. Probably a combined effect of the Earth Empire's attack and the opening of the spirit portal 14 years ago.

Mom had shown me pictures of the city back before either of those things happened and it was almost unrecognizable. Now it was mostly built around the coast with the highest densest points being the furthest away from the portal. At the moment we were heading into the east side. My promise to mom was still in the front of my mind so I had suggested we stick to the brighter sections today.

Azimi protested, but I was the one on the steering wheel so what I said went. It wasn't the first time I had driven this model and I think now what I thought the first time; it would have been better if the top came down. I loved the feeling of wind whipping through my hair.

"You ever think of a career in professional racing Kinara?" asks Tong. I had scared the pants off him when I put the pedal to the metal but now it looked like he was enjoying himself.

"Yup. I won the Grand last year." I say proudly.

"How old are you again?" he asks impressed. Azimi waives both of us down.

"Don't get too impressed. The scrap yard behind her garage is twice as big thanks to her."

"If I remember right, I wrecked the last one because a certain firebender set the front tires on fire." I say giving her the gaze of death.

She throws both hands up in the air. "How many times can I say I was sorry? I'm dangerous to be around when I have a cold."

I glance back at Tong. "She's not kidding. If she ever has the sniffles when you're around, run."

We were cruising through a market area now. It seemed a good enough place as any to stop. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and from the grumbling coming from Azimi's stomach I could guess she hadn't either. I pulled the car into a relatively out of the way alley and we all get out.

"Oh can you get me a bag of Lychee?" begs Azimi. Being the rich girl, I was expected to pay for everything out of principal.

"Only if you share this time." I say before turning to Tong. "See anything you like? It'll be on me." He thanks me before taking Azimi and wrapping his arm around her to which she beams up at him. Oh this was getting downright disgusting. I'd tell them to get a room if I wasn't so jealous.

We perused for a while. Azimi filled up after running my purse dry. Tong held back quite literally. Sometimes I would catch him surveying the crowd with suspicious eyes. Must be a cop thing, always looking for trouble.

I'm about to ask him about it when I hear a commotion over to my left. It sounds like a woman is shouting for police. Tong perks up and goes to investigate. We trail behind him and see a woman behind a stand holding a young kid by the scruff of his tunic.

"What's going on?" Tong Asks flashing his badge.

"Caught this thief trying to steal a bag of apples in the back." She spits. Tong looks down at the boy.

"Is this true?" he asks. The kid looks down at the ground in shame.

"My family hasn't eaten in days. Handouts aren't enough." He whines. Azimi and I both eye each other.

Tong wraps a cuff around the boy and tells the woman he'll take care of it. He begins walking him back to the car when Azimi puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Could you uncuff him for a second?" she asks. He shoots her a look but defers to her judgment. Freed, little Ty turns to Azimi.

"How was that?" he asks her brightly. "Not bad but you could stand to cry a little. Makes em feel worse."

I kneel down to him and pull an apple I nabbed from the stand and give it to him. "Plus don't ever try to steal a whole bag." I say with a smile. Tong is looking at us both like we're nuts.

"So…?" he asks expectantly.

"Little Ty here is my protégée. Scoundrel in training." Azimi explains. We had met Ty a few years ago. He was a street orphan like Azimi had been and he took a liking to us and we to him. Azimi showed him the ropes of the whole criminal thing and I tried to help as often as I could.

He had gotten good, though not nearly as good as us. "So are you still going to arrest me?" he asks.

Tong crosses his arms and gives us both a look. "Yes. I am." We both send him a scowl but he just smiles. "But first I'm going to turn around and check on the car for a few minutes."

We give nods of approval. "Well?" Azimi asks looking at Ty. "Scatter!" he nods and bolts off into the ground. Before he completely disappears he looks back.

"You still gonna teach me how to cheat at Pai Sho on Saturday?" he calls.

Azimi slaps a hand to her forehead. "For goodness sakes kid we just bailed you out. Stop digging a hole in the ear range of a cop!" she calls. He nods and vanishes into the crowd.

"You know for a cop…" Azimi says while giving Tong a playful punch in the arm. "You're not so bad."

"Not bad for a pair of criminals either." He jokes back. "Though I gotta say, I didn't think the daughter of the Avatar would be so willing to let him go either. Didn't your mom teach you to keep balance or whatever?" he asks.

I laugh. "Are you kidding? First day mom came to this city she dished out some vigilante justice on a group of triple triads. Rules and my family don't exactly mix." Okay that was a half truth. If Korra knew half the things Azimi and I did she'd throw us into jail herself.

We start to make our way back to the alley where the car is. I just set my bag inside when I see a van pulled further up in the alley.

"Was that there before?" I ask. Just as I do, a door from the building kicks open just a few yards away from the van and two men burst through dragging a third with a bag over his head.

The three of us stare at the three of them for a solid few seconds before one lets go and kicks a jet of flame straight at my face.

I can feel the heat when a section of the nearby wall stretches out to block it and save my face. I look to Tong and he gives me a nod.

Azimi is already rushing forward without a word sending a hail of fire down on the two. They began back peddling throwing out bursts of flames and whips of water.

A fourth man pokes his head out from the driver's seat of the van to see the commotion and yells for them to hurry.

One kicks the van's back doors open and the other throws the tied up man in.

Azimi is almost on them when they throw the doors closed and tell the driver to go. The Waterbender jumps in and the firebender is about to when Tong catches his arm with a ring of rock and pulls him to the wall.

They fight and I sit here doing nothing. What do I do? I can't fight. I'd just get in the way. But as the van's wheels spin into action I know what to do. Having secured the firebender, Azimi and Tong give chase to the Van on foot and soon they both disappear around the corner entirely forgetting that I or the car exists.

I jump in and ignite the engine. I leave a little rubber on the road and push the peddle after them. When I round the corner, Azimi and Tong haven't gotten far.

"Jump in." I say. They do but both keep just one foot in the car and let the rest of their bodies hang out so they can move and bend.

I switch gears and see the van rounding right on another corner. We give chase and luckily this thing handles much better than a clunky huge van. I close the distance in less than a minute as Azimi is blasting fire at them haphazardly. The van swerves left and right and the Waterbender peaks his head out and starts firing back.

Pretty soon we're in a high speed car chase/ bend off. Azimi scores a hit on one of the tires but it isn't enough to take them off the road.

Tong uses metalbending to pry off a piece of our own bumper and sends it through the air like a spear into the other rear tire. This is enough and soon the van is swerving out of control before the side of a building brings it to a full stop.

Tong and Azimi don't miss a beat and jump out of the car at the same time the Waterbender pulls himself out of the wreck. He lashes a whip at Azimi who dodges nimbly kicking a few blasts his way for good measure.

It's two on one and the Waterbender is clearly struggling. But he keeps up the fight long enough for the driver to pull himself out of the van too. He takes one look at the ensuing fight and plants both of his feet solidly along the ground and uses the road to lift up a ten foot high wall between us and him.

The Waterbender sees and shouts a curse at his brother in crime. No honor amongst thieves, or kidnappers apparently. Once again I find myself frantically thinking of what to do. They can handle the Waterbender but the earth guy is getting away.

Oh mom I'm sorry. I shift gears again and back the car into reverse and turn around back the way we came. Before the wall went up it looked like he would run to his left. I could cut down an alley and then cut him off.

Then what? Well then Kinara you don't let him crush you. And after that? I bite my lip. Hopefully he's not very good I laugh to myself.

I make a hard left into an alley two blocks from where the van crashed and when I burst out of it, sure enough the earthbender is sprinting right towards me. He sees me and my attire and eyes and probably assumes I'm a bender.

He kicks two slabs of concrete at me which I crawl into the backseat to avoid while at the same time reaching into my bag to get the chi glove.

I slip it on and kick the back door open. He's sending another barrage of rock at me but he's slow now and clearly out of breath. Hey I got lucky he isn't very good!

My mom's words ring in my ears. Close the distance and hit hard. I start sprinting towards him carefully watching the muscles in his arms and legs. When they twitch I know where the attack is going to come from. I side step one attack, and then another.

In a second I'm within arm's reach and he looks as shocked as I am when I plant my palm on his forehead. Blue sparks shoot from my hand to his head as his eyes roll back and he collapses unconscious to the ground.

I take a deep breath and stand myself fully upright. I did it. That was the first bender I had ever beaten in a fight. Elation shot through me as I leapt up into the air punching the sky with my fist as I gave a woot of joy.

When I land I am so glad not many people saw that. I hear the pit patter of footsteps running down the alley I came from and I turn preparing for another fight when I see Azimi and Tong haul out from the shadows

"Oh thank goodness it's you." Cries Azimi. She looks at me, then at the earth guy, then back at me. "Did you?"

"Yup." I say proudly. "Took him down. Didn't even land a hit." I'm a bit smug but hey I'm allowed. This was a big moment for me. Tong dawns a 'not bad' look as they both approach me.

"Did you take care of the other guys?" I ask. They nod.

"Got em both cuffed. Sorry but I'm gonna have to go alone to fit them all in the car." Tong says wrapping cuffs around earthy. Azimi high fives me.

"You go girl! Taken out a certified kidnapper!" She smiles at me elated. She looks back at the guy and the smile slowly fades from her lips. "Huh."

"Huh what?" Asks Tong about to lift him up. Azimi kneels down to get a closer look and her eyes go wide with shock.

"Hey I know this guy. His names Jin. I haven't seen him in months." She looks concerned.

"Well great. Makes my job easier." Says Tong but Azimi shakes her head.

"No you don't get it. I've known Jin four years, and I can tell you he's not a bender." She says matter of factly.

Tong and I exchange glances. "Well obviously he is. Maybe you just didn't know." Says Tong.

"I'm telling you the guy was normal. He got roughed up a lot outside the Silver Moon. You think if he was a bender he wouldn't have fought back?"

Tong doesn't have an answer to this and neither do I. Maybe she was wrong and this wasn't Jin. But I kneel down and sure enough. There was no mistake. Now that I was closer I noticed something dark on his wrist. I lift his arm up to inspect and see what looks like a black spider made out of some kind of metal. Four spikes are coming out of either side implanting themselves into his arm. I notice a hollowed out section in the middle where it looked like something should go but there was nothing.

"Oh yuck." Azimi exclaims. "What is it?" We both look at Tong for answers but he just shakes his head.

"I have no idea."


	6. Chapter 6

VI

**(It has been brought to my attention that it's just plain weird that Kinara refers to her mother's by their first names. I had been struggling with this too but couldn't easily think of a way around it. This is because I am a dense and silly person.**

**Therefore, for now on Asami will be referred to as Mom and Korra as Mum. Boom. I'm sure my own silliness will never be a problem again. Ever. Again. Enjoy.)**

"It's an injection device of some kind." Mom says, eyeing the gauntlet thing under a microscope. "But without the glass that goes here I can't say what's in the injection, and you say this man was bending?"

Azimi nods. "Either he kept it a secret, or this did something to him?"

Mom sets the gauntlet down and rubs her temple. We had brought the thing directly to her. She was one of the top experts of mechanics so the cops would probably just have brought it to her anyway. We were just saving them a step.

"Can you tell me anything else?" she asks looking to me.

I'm about to answer when Azimi jumps in. "Not really. Kinara here didn't give him much time to talk to us."

I shoot her a look of 'way to go' and mom look at me with a mix of shock and… oh I hope that's not anger. "You chased down a bender?"

I nod, and brace myself for the reckoning. I'm a little floored when she smiles. Not only that, she's smiling with pride. "Nice job sweetie."

"You're not angry?" I ask tentatively.

"Not at all. But…" this she says to Azimi. "I'd prefer it if you two must get into street fights, you at least stick together from now on. Fair enough?"

Azimi and I nod in synch. I couldn't imagine how many fights I'd be getting into, but if the past two years were anything to go by… it was reasonable to say once a week. Mom probably didn't need to know that.

"Well, I'll talk to Korra about this thing when she gets back. And I'm sure that the police will want to talk to me soon. Sorry I couldn't do more girls." She finishes taking a seat back at her desk.

Azimi gives a small informal bow and leaves. "See you at home." I start to say, but before I reach the door she continues;

"And don't worry, I won't tell Korra if you won't."

The smile on my face is practically ear to ear as I close the door behind me. It doesn't even leave after Azimi playfully punches my arm. "Way to go Kinara! Taking down a drugged out bender! First try too! It was your first right? If not I'm offended you didn't tell me about it."

"Yup, first takedown." I beam.

"Well here's to many more!" she cries high fiving me. It was weird. Despite nearly getting my head crushed by a rock, I was having a pretty great day.

We make our way out of the building to find Tong leaning against his police car. "Ladies." He greets.

Azimi leans next to him and the too give a very loving look to each other. It's gross to me but hey who am I to judge?

"Didn't have your fill of us for the day?" Azimi asks.

"I thought you two would want to see this." He reaches into the back of the car and pulls out a folder. Jin Xi reads in the corner of it. "His parents were both benders."

"What?" Azimi pouts snatching the folder right out of his hands. "That can't be right."

"When the police interrogated them, they claimed he's been an earthbender all his life."

"Well then, there goes our cool theory." Azimi whines. She hands me the file and I take a quick look. Tong isn't wrong. Everything checked out.

"Well then what was the spider thing?" I ask indicating my forearm. "A fashion statement?"

"Word around the offices was that it's just some new type of drug." Tong shrugs. I cross my arms and think back. He hadn't looked high or otherwise impaired, but then it was Azimi who said he wasn't a bender. Tong and I cast her a glance.

She notices the scrutiny and puts her hands in the air. "Well in four years I've never seen him throw a rock. And trust me, there were times where he would have if he coulda."

"Maybe he wasn't very good." I suggest. This thought kind of depresses me though because that means taking him down wasn't that impressive.

Azimi looks like she wants to retort, but instead just let's out a frustrated groan. "Fine then, I'm crazy. Let's all just ignore me from now on."

Almost perfectly Tong and I reply, "Suit yourself." And get into the car.

Azimi looks too miffed to even bite back. She slumps her shoulders and slinks into the back seat, I having taken the passenger's seat. It was Tong's car; I didn't want to hog driving duty.

A few minutes later, we're pulling into a spirit vine shaded street. Azimi and I wanted to show him our old stomping grounds. It was called The Grunge, and it looked like you would expect with a name like that.

Vines grew in and out of grime covered buildings. The sun barely showed and we were the only people as far as the eye could see without scars or tattoos. It was the gambling and thieving hub of the east section of the city, and we loved it here.

"You may wanna lock the car." I suggest. He does and he slides the keys into his sleeve.

"This is where you bring me? A cop?" I ask. Azimi and I both shush him.

"Wanna say that a little louder?" she asks. "You're not wearing a badge and you haven't arrested anyone here. Probably." We wander our way thought the crowd, periodically checking our pockets to make sure nothing got nabbed.

We pull the curtain door back on one of the den's and enter the main Pai Sho casino, rows and rows of all shapes and sizes of players. The clicks of the chips pressing against the board echo through the hall.

"You don't strike me as the gambling type Kinara." Says Tong as we move to the back where there's a free table.

"Azimi, want to explain how you lead me to a life of crime?" I ask sitting down on one of the pillows.

"Yeah, the gambling's for me. Once I figured out she was unstoppable, I saw the opportunity for cash. She just goes along with it because this is where the best players are." Azimi explains.

We're interrupted as Wang, the 'owner' of the establishment approaches.

"Kinara! It's been too long." He offers a hand which I take.

"Long enough for there to be new blood for me to destroy?" I ask. After a few months of Azimi's and I's partnership, the challengers cleared up. I learned how to play from my Mom and apparently she had taught me well. Anyone who recognized me wouldn't dare to even try anymore.

Wang eyes the crowd and nods. "One or two. Go easy on em would you? I don't want you to crush them so much they don't return."

"Alright." I say as Tong looks on As Azimi wanders into the back.

"If she needs money…" he struggles with how to say the next bit politely. "Couldn't you just…"

"I've offered till I was blue in the face. She always refuses. I guess she'd rather win it then be given." In that regard we were a lot alike I think.

"Don't you feel bad then? For taking these people's money?" he asks. I look around to make sure no one's listening.

"I pay them back when Azimi's not looking." I whisper. Tong has to stifle his laugh. "Like I said, I do it for the challenge."

"Well then." Tong sits across from me. "I have been know to play a pretty mean game myself." He says cockily.

"Oh really?" I say with a raised eyebrow. "You know that's what they all say."

He produces a roll of Yuan's. "Care to bet on that?"

"Gladly." We crack our knuckles and the game begins.

Five minutes later, I've absolutely destroyed him. I lift up the roll of money and toss it back to him.

"It was a practice game. Let's go again." He insists. I just nod and try to suppress the devilish grin building up in my soul. As the game starts, Azimi returns from the back, and she's followed by Ty.

"Hey Ty. Gotten in any more trouble today?" I ask.

"Nah. I tried to keep on the clean side after you guys bailed me out. Thanks again by the way."

Azimi wraps her arms around him and lifts him into the air. "That's what big sisters are for." She says squeezing the life out him. We weren't obviously but that was how we treated him. We orphans had to stick together after all, even if some of us got lucky in our lives.

I continue to dominate Tong as Azimi releases Ty back to the earth. As she does, she kneels down and whispers into his ear. Azimi's whisper voice isn't as soft as she thinks it is so I hear clear as day what she says and understand why she insisted we dragged Tong here. "Keep an ear out okay? If you see anyone with a spider on their arm… tell me."


End file.
